_It's been 15 years since there has been a major breakthrough in HDTVs, like the one that is going to take place in 2012 The first Large panel HDTV was a 42 inch 480p Plasma introduced by Fujitsu in 1997. LG and Samsung are expected in 2012 to introduce another breakthrough technology called OLED HDTV, in 55 inch models. Although the OLED technology has been difficult to perfect, LG and Samsung will introduce revolutionary 55 inch OLED HDTV models in 2012. The most important feature that OLEDs improve upon is image contrast, which is very important for the best quality picture. Unlike any current plasma or LED LCD, the OLED can completely shut-off light emissions on a per-pixel basis. Theoretically speaking, this allows for an "infinite contrast ratio". However, marketing guys like numbers so you will see them in 80,000,000:1 range or higher. The most improvement will be noticed in darker viewing environments, so stores like Best Buy will have to offer a darker area to see the differences easily.

In addition to perfect jet-black blacks against bright whites and vibrant colors, the OLEDs have other fine performance attributes. "Motion Blur" is completely non-existent due to a response time that is measured in "millionths of a second". By comparison, LED LCDs are measured in the number of milliseconds (thousandths of a second)

In addition, OLED HDTVs are emissive displays, like CRTs and Plasmas. This allows OLEDs to achieve a near perfect "180 degree" viewing angle without color shift or a reduction in contrast, like many LED LCDs suffer from.

OLEDs have the thinnest form factor of any display technology. OLED displays are expected to achieve a super slim, 3/16ths of an inch thickness (4mm) or less. The problem with such a thin screen is that it leaves no room for things like speakers, switching and power supplies. A seperate box may be needed for some of these items.

However if you are in to "Green Technology", OLEDs are the greenest technology by far. OLEDs are expected to require as little as 1/2 the power consumption of today's LED LCD big screen TVs, possibly using as little as a single 50 watt bulb.

LG and Samsung will be introducing their latest OLED TVs in 2012. Predictions are that these TVs will also be offered for sale to the public in a 55 inch display, later in the year. Some industry experts state that Panasonic is already converting one of it's LCD display factories, to an OLED display factory. There is no word however when Panasonic will be introducing it's own OLED HDTV model. Not to be left behind, Sharp and Sony will most likely be introducing competing OLED models. It's not a matter of "IF", but "When" we will se a SHARP or SONY OLED flat panel display.